The stuff of nightmares. I too agree, wrap the lines completely if you are self-rescuing to the kite. Or leave the like at full extension and swim in. If you have some wind cross on wind leaving the kite at will extension will slowly pull you in as you swim. Then if the wind pulls back up you can relaunch and go. I've done this 3-4 times now.

On a side note i spend a lot of time hundreds of meters out to sea and more foiling. My local has subsurface boulders close to shore. I am conscious of the worst case scenario. I'm thinking of maybe getting and epirb or similar.

I had a following current and my kite was completely on its back. I was actually drifting towards kite, lines getting slacker. There was also a bit of eel grass getting in the way... I did try swimming with lines extended first 10 minutes.

I think big mistake I made was being sloppy winding up lines. That was potentially harmful and dangerous... Rest of my actions were OK.
If I had ditched board early, I probably could have used the kite sideways on the water as a sail. As when other kiter rescued me we had increased back to 5-6 knots wind. He had a Storm 15m single strut kite.
After I got back to beach he tried to foil back but couldn't get going and got a car ride back too.

I'm definitely going to learn to use the Hyperlink on my surfboard first before foiling with it...

I'm definitely going to learn to use the Hyperlink on my surfboard first before foiling with it...

Good call, I'd also restrict your foil kite use to the sweet spot of the wind range until you have a few tricks in your toolbox to get out of sticky situations with them. Once you feel good powered up, then start to test the low end gradually. This was the advice I got from the guy who sold me my first foil kite and boy did it ever keep me out of trouble early on.

Hyperlink as a foil kite is pretty intuitive. Maybe fly it on the beach for 20 min especially in stupidly light wind.

Consider practicing water relaunch deliberately. One pro tip for water launch is not to pull water into the kite by pulling the back lines if it's trailing edge down or the front lines if leading edge down. Just wait without pulling lines until the kite drifts downwind and takes shape. Then pull front lines if it positioned for a hot launch. Rear lines if it's nose down.

I would focus less on the board type and more on conditions:

More onshore wind so the wind will bring you and kite back to shore

Less far from the beach so a smaller swim

Not in waves that would push you downwind luffing the kite and fill it with water if you don't relaunch fast. I has a tremendous 7m Hyperlink hydrofoil session in waves last week. I was the only one out. There is zero chance a tube kite could have followed me downwind so fast. It ended in a 1/4 mile swim/drift through the break due to my own careless kite flying.

Easy exit from the water with a waterlogged kite. Short grass and small stones < 2cm are all great. Sand is OK bit will add 3kg to a wet foil kite ending your day. Best to keep the kite dry. Tree roots, tangle plants and bigger rocks are terrible to drag a wet foil kite in.

So i kite with an extra leash on my back. Helps for rescuing others, or myself. I have not had a foil nightmare, but what about if the wind dies, strapping the extra leash onto the board while you pack up your lines. If things get ooc, you can just pull the release.

Thanks for all the tips, encouragement and kind words, despite my rider error. It speaks well of the community.

I'm still sceptical to use a leash to board, even if it's temporary.
What I should learn to do is straddle board, roll up lines on bar well, leash kite and paddle in with board as shown on Houston kiteboarding video.

As someone who kites in as little as 6 knots where dropping the kite means swimming in I have had several 30+ minute swims and would like to offer you some advice:

1) Wear a vest with some flotation
2) Dress for the swim, this includes gloves and a hood if needed (a beanie wont keep you warm when swimming)
3) Carry a 2nd kite leash and leash up your board as soon as your kite goes down
4) When you pack up in light wind do not wind up your bar as you go to your kite, instead:
- Swim up a center line without using your feet (you'll need to be wearing a vest for this) all the way to the kite
- Once you get to your kite undo all 4 lines from the kite
- Roll up lines on to bar
5) If there is any wind left in the direction you want to go, use the kite to sail in
6) Otherwise put kite LE down in the water behind you and slowly swim back using alternating strokes to avoid cramping (I use mostly side crawl)